Tina Turner: Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll (part 2)

In 1966, the success of Tina and Ike reached new heights when they recorded the album Deep River, Mountain High with super record label producer Phil Spector. The title track was unsuccessful in the US but was among the top five hits in the UK and gave the couple a new reputation.

In 1969, they toured as the opening act for the Rolling Stones, which attracted many fans. Their reputation returned in 1971 with the release of the album Workin’Together, including the famous song Proud Mary remake from Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song reached the top 5 of the charts in the US and won the first two Grammy Awards.

Afterwards, the couple had a hit in the top five in the UK, Nutbush Cty Limits of 1973, written by Tina herself with autobiographical elements. In 1975, Tina also appeared in the first film, Who’s Tommy, playing Acid Queen.

Despite being a successful duo in music, Tina and Ike had a bad marriage. In the mid-1970s, the two separated about life and career after a fierce argument. In 1978, they officially divorced.

In the following years, Tina’s solo career started slowly. According to the singer, when she broke up with Ike, she only had “36 cents and a card to buy gasoline.” She had to use food stamps, even do house cleaning to earn money to support her children. Despite this, she continued to perform at small venues and made guest appearances on other artists’ debut shows at first, but did not achieve any notable success initially.

In 1983, Turner’s solo singing career finally came to an end, when she recorded Al Green’s remake of Let’s Stay Together and made it into the top 5 on domestic R&B charts and top 10 UK pop music.

The following year, she released her solo album Private Dancer which was a huge success in number of releases, won four Grammy Awards and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. This time, despite being a woman in her mid-40s, Turner was more famous for her fiery performances and unique singing techniques and featured looks with short skirts and punk hair.

In 1991, Ike and Tina Turner were introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, Ike could not attend the ceremony, because he was engulfed in drugs.

In 2008, the singer started performing Tina! 50th Anniversary Tour, becoming one of the highest ticketing shows in 2008 and 2009. In 2013, Turner was engaged to longtime friend Erwin Bach at the age of 73. In July of the same year, they married in Zurich , Switzerland. Back in the limelight in 2018, Turner was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.